While our survey has long shown seasonal fluctuations in Prime membership levels, we have now seen four months of—at best—flatlining membership rates. Moreover, in July last year, Prime Day prompted a month-over-month increase in membership numbers, but this year we saw no such jump. This August, the proportion of consumers we recorded holding a Prime membership was the lowest we had seen in a year.

But with that awesome power comes...strange choices. For some of us, that one-click checkout button can lead to some unusual impulse buys. For others, it's all too easy to start browsing Amazon in a late-night haze, saying yes to things you'd ordinarily never consider you needed in your life. But now that you've got a five-pound bag of Skittles or a dedicated wall-mounted purse hanger in your life, you've got to make the most of it, right?
And of course all the bad examples are great fun to read (seniors crawling along floors trying to read labels on badly shelved medicine), as are the descriptions of how different groups shop (male vs female, old vs young, parents vs. single, etc.) The whole book is pretty much a commercial for Underhill's company, but it's still informative and fun reading.
From the opening of a brand new vinyl record to the hidden tracks on your favorite CDs, the melodies and beats of your favorite tunes can soothe, energize, create whole new memories, and even transform your entire mood. That’s why Amazon.com brings you all the very best in the music you’ll love, whether you’re looking for digital MP3s, vinyl, CDs, or other formats.
Amazon, land of 1 million things you need and 5 million options for each of them, has quickly become the one-stop shop for an insane amount of online purchases. For me, that's because they have a wide selection, carry most of the brands I want, list them at near the lowest or the lowest prices I've seen in price comparison research (with shipping in mind), and, last but absolutely not least, because I'm a Prime member and the internet has made me a glutton for instant gratification — something that 2-Day (or two-hour) shipping panders well to.
On May 10, 2016, Amazon launched a Video Service called Amazon Video Direct which allows users to place videos available to rent or own, to view free with ads, or to be bundled together, and offered as an ad-on subscription.[120] Amazon will pay creators 50% of the revenue earned from rental or sale of the videos,[120] but for ad-supported videos, the makers will get a portion of ad receipts.[120]
Be very careful when buying flash memory online. It's surprisingly easy to get a 2GB memory card, print fake logos and packaging, and mess with the metadata so your computer thinks it's actually 128GB. Then, these scammers sell them online for the price of the 128GB drive, or in this case, a disreputable supplier will supply them to Amazon in lieu of the real product. Then you end up with a bad card even though it's sold by Amazon.
An Amazon.com exclusive is a product, usually a DVD, that is available exclusively on Amazon.com. Some DVDs are produced by the owner of the film or product, while others are produced by Amazon.com itself. The DVDs produced by Amazon are made using its "CreateSpace" program, in which DVDs are created, upon ordering, using DVD-R technology. The DVDs are then shipped about two days later. Some DVDs (such as the Jersey Shore Season 1 or The Unusuals Season 1) are released first as an Amazon.com exclusive for a limited time before being released elsewhere. On May 23, 2011, Amazon.com allowed customers to download Lady Gaga's Born This Way album for 99 cents, resulting in some downloads being delayed, due to an extremely high volume of downloads.[88]
Some commentators have argued that the Amazon website is not equipped to provide a quality experience for browsing, searching and discovering fashion ranges. After all, Amazon established its position by serving as a kind of catalog for products that shoppers buy based mostly on specifications, such as books and electronics—but fashion shoppers tend to browse and buy differently.
The Ring Stick Up Cam will be offered in both wired and battery-powered configurations — both for $179.99. The Stick Up Cam can be used both indoors and out, according to Amazon, marking Ring’s first cameras designed for both environments. They can integrate with the Ring Alarm when used inside the house. The wired variant is up for preorder starting today, with the battery Stick Up Cam due to arrive in December. Both offer 1080p video, night vision, motion detection, and IPX5 water resistance.

A.: Most gamers are already familiar with Twitch, the popular game-stream broadcast service, but may not know about Twitch Prime. Amazon Prime users also get access to Twitch Prime, which allows them to watch Twitch streams completely ad-free. However, Amazon recently announced that new members will not get ad-free viewing beginning September 14. Existing members, however, can continue to enjoy ad-free viewing up until their subscription renewal, at which point they too will lose the feature. Monthly in-game bonuses and "Free Games With Prime" — a selection of free titles for Prime members — will continue.

Promising review: “I own a BBQ food truck and we sell brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken, smoked sausage, and burgers. I was looking for a faster way to pull pork. I looked at those shredders you attach to a drill, but they look like they would turn the product to mush. I brought these Bear Paws and went to pull 30 pounds of Boston Butt. What used to take 45 minutes was done in less than five. No waste. These paws do a great job of integrating the fat in with the meat. I could not be happier. As a BBQ man for 30 years, I would recommend these.” —Michael K. Powell
The Echo Link (above) is “designed to connect to a receiver or amplifier, with multiple digital and analog inputs and outputs for compatibility with your existing stereo equipment.” There are no mics built in here; instead, the Echo Link serves only to “let you control music selection, volume, and multi-room playback on your stereo with your Echo or the Alexa app.”
In March 2015 Amazon launched a new on-demand service, Amazon Home Services, aimed at offering homeowners a marketplace for professional services such as plumbing, electrical, audio/visual installation, and lawn services. The Home Services category designed to make finding a specialist easy by verifying that providers are properly licensed and insured for the job. Service is "Satisfaction Guaranteed" and offers a refund if you are not happy in the end. Additionally, reviews are verified so you know the reviewer actually paid for and used the services.[132]
The Echo Auto connects to Alexa through your phone and plays over your car’s speakers. It features eight microphones that the company says can make out your voice even over road noise and music. You can do all the usual Alexa commands, and when you ask for directions, the Echo Auto will send you to Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, or whatever your preferred navigation app is.

This is why any kung fu fan will always love Gordon Liu. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is as classic as it gets: the definitive Shaolin movie, without a doubt, and the source of Liu’s nickname, “Master Killer.” He plays San Te, a young student wounded when his school is culled by the Manchu government, so he flees to the refuge of the Shaolin temple. After toiling as a laborer, he finally earns the right to learn kung fu, which begins the film’s famous training sequences. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is the rare film where those training sequences actually outshine its traditional fights, because they’re just so beautiful, fluid and inventive. In each of the 36 chambers, San Te must toil to discipline his body, mind, reflexes and will. They make up the whole center of the film, and are unforgettable, bearing an iconic gravitas, imbuing kung fu with a great dignity. Because true kung fu can only be attained through the greatest of sacrifice. —Jim Vorel

Available in the Amazon app under Programs, Outfit Compare is a quick service that helps you figure out which outfit looks better on you, regardless of whether the clothes are purchased from Amazon. A fashion specialist takes into account how the clothes fit you, which colors look best on you, how the outfits are styled, and what's on trend right now.
"Sometimes it's fun to have a straw with something, and sometimes it's just practical. I bought these to use in smoothies specifically so I could cut down on the massive amount of waste we all create by using disposable straws (something that even inspired a campaign by the National Parks Service). Once you've made the change, it's not even noticeable in your daily life, and it makes a big difference in the grand scheme of things for the environment. Plus, they come with their own cleaner, so you never have to worry about not being able to properly sanitize them." — Mara Leighton
iPhone Xs, Xs Max offer: Phone Offer: iPhone Xs (64GB) MSRP $999.99; iPhone Xs Max (64GB) $1,099.99. Phone Trade-in: Phone must be unlocked, deactivated & all personal data deleted before trade-in and in good working order; device powers on and there are no broken, missing or cracked pieces. Device will not be returned. Current customers must own trade in device. Credits end at 18 months, early payoff or upgrade, whichever occurs first.
But Prime’s ease and accessibility rely on advanced and extensive mail systems that do not exist everywhere in the world, Rosenbaum said. One solution may be for Amazon to work with retailers and vendors overseas, such as 7-Eleven, where customers can pick up their packages. Prime has programs through Whole Foods where shoppers can pick up their groceries, for example.
"I get asked about this water bottle all of the time. I use it at the office, at the gym, and at home. It helps keep me honest about how much water I'm drinking and it's helped me stay more hydrated because of the time marker. I also love the spout, the attached wrist strap, the closure on the bottle (this thing will not leak) and the opacity of the bottle. One of the best purchases I've made in a while." — Melanie Winer

Picking the perfect gift for someone can often feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack. If you're a last-minute shopper, it can get even more frustrating trying to figure out what to buy for that oh-so-picky person on your list. Luckily, there are insanely unique gifts on Amazon that let you deliver an amazingly thoughtful present without too much effort (and more importantly, make all the stress of in-store shopping disappear).

Anyone who spends much time on the Amazon site can see the answer to that question. The company now has roughly 100 private label brands for sale on its huge online marketplace, of which more than five dozen have been introduced in the past year alone. But few of those are sold under the Amazon brand. Instead, they have been given a variety of anodyne, disposable names like Spotted Zebra (kids clothes), Good Brief (men’s underwear), Wag (dog food) and Rivet (home furnishings). Want to buy a stylish but affordable cap-sleeve dress? A flared version from Lark & Ro ($39), maybe in millennial pink, might be just what you’re looking for.

Who says dessert can’t be keto-friendly? This sugar- and sugar alcohol-free treat is made from 100-percent stone-ground South American cocoa beans and sweetened with monk fruit and non-GMO soluble vegetable fiber, making it both low in carbs (just three net grams per ounce) and melt-in-your-mouth creamy. Throw in a handful of earthy, buttery almonds for good measure and you’ve got something that’ll appease your sweet tooth without ruining your diet.

“Amazon has access to data that nobody else has,” said James Thomson, a former Amazon executive who now works at Buy Box Experts, a consulting firm that advises companies on how to build their brands and sell products on Amazon. “I can’t just walk into a store and say, ‘Excuse me, did you look at this brand of cereal this morning and decide not to buy it?’ Amazon has that data. They know you looked at a brand and didn’t buy it and they’re not going to share that data with any other brands.”

Indeed, Amazon casts a long shadow over a number of industries. Grocery stocks plunged when the company acquired Whole Foods Market last year. Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA) and CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) fell when the company acquired PillPack this summer, and an eventual entry by Amazon into the pharmacy space still hangs over the sector. The 2016 launch of Amazon Prints sent Shutterfly (NASDAQ:SFLY) down 12%.

In a time when exploitation cinema seemed the standard for cheap movie houses the world over, no martial arts flick got much better than this Shaw Brothers staple, which eventually adopted the much more PC title, Return of the 5 Deadly Venoms. The blind one, the deaf mute, the one without legs and the brain-damaged “idiot”: Together, they make an unstoppable force of vengeance against the local martial arts master who crippled them, as well as his son, who ironically lost his arms at a young age, and so sports dart-shooting cast-iron facsimiles. In other words, Crippled Avengers plays it cool, allowing our disfigured heroes few but important victories for most of the film, building up to its final 25-minute series of fight scenes, in which a blind man, a deaf mute, a man with iron prosthetic legs and an acrobatic “idiot” combine their individual strengths to defeat a kung fu master with, basically, robot arms. Movies like this give us reasons to get up in the morning. —Dom Sinacola

I started selling furniture on Craigslist 18 months ago. While searching for pieces I actually needed, I began to notice, “Hey, the desk this guy is asking $50 for would totally sell for $150.” Being freshly unemployed, I slid into the furniture flip game, and now I buy lamps off of Amazon and resell them on Craigslist for twice (sometimes five times) as much. Last month, lamps paid my rent. 2018 has become the year of my Lamp Baronry.
On July 15, 2015, to commemorate its 20th birthday, Amazon celebrated "Amazon Prime Day", which Amazon announced would feature deals for prime members that rivaled those on Black Friday.[24] Also that month Amazon Prime announced[25] that it would be signing Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May, formerly of BBC's Top Gear, to begin working on The Grand Tour, due to be released in 2016. On July 13, 2016, Amazon Prime said customers placed 60 percent more orders worldwide on "Prime Day".[26]